Face authentication device having database with small storage capacity

ABSTRACT

Face authentication can easily be performed based on an input image including a mirror region reflected by a mirror without increasing a storage capacity of a database. With the database, for each face of a person to be authenticated, only one real front image is to be registered as a reference face image. A mirror image processing circuitry detects the mirror region from the input image and to subject a detected mirror region to lateral inversion processing to produce a processed image. A face detection processing circuitry detects a face image from the processed image to generate a detected face image. A face authentication processing circuitry compares the detected face image with the reference face image, to thereby perform face authentication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a face authentication device, a faceauthentication method, and a face authentication program.

Description of the Related Art

In order to achieve a high authentication accuracy in a faceauthentication technology, it is required to photograph a face from aposition as close to the front of the face as possible. However, inparticular, a camera for monitoring is installed in the vicinity of aceiling in many cases, and hence it is difficult for the camera tocapture the face from the front.

The authentication accuracy can be expected to be improved by setting anangle, distance, height, or the like of a camera with respect to anobject as recommended. However, when a camera is installed in, forexample, a narrow floor or passage, there is a case in which the angle,distance, height, or the like of a camera cannot be set as recommendeddepending on the environment in which the camera is installed and it isconsequently difficult to perform face authentication.

Meanwhile, in order to solve such a problem, there have been proposedvarious face authentication technologies that use a mirror. There havebeen known, as such face authentication technologies that use a mirror,for example, a technology requiring a front face image, a reflected faceimage, and a reflected side image to be registered with a database inadvance, and a technology involving performing authentication processingwithout distinguishing between a real image and a reflected image.However, with such face authentication technologies that use a mirror,there is a fear that a person whose face image is similar to thelaterally-inverted face image may be erroneously authenticated.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication(JP-A) No. 2014-106816, there is disclosed a technology involvinginstalling a front mirror and a mirror that is inclined at a small anglewith respect to the front mirror, and picking up a reflected front imageand a reflected side image with a camera, to thereby improve an accuracyof face authentication for entry and exit of a room.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No.2007-011456, there is disclosed a technology involving picking up afront image of a face and right and left side images thereof, which arereflected by two mirrors, with a wide-angle camera, and determiningwhether a person to be authenticated is successfully authenticatedthrough use of those picked-up images. Also in Japanese UnexaminedPatent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2007-011456, in the samemanner as in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A)No. 2014-106816, a front image of a face of a person to be authenticatedand right and left side images thereof are registered with a storage asregistered information.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No.2006-099615, there is disclosed a technology involving using only a faceimage reflected by a mirror for authentication.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No.2007-206834, there is disclosed a technology involving extracting a faceimage in which a person to be authenticated faces the front from amongface images of the person to be authenticated, which are acquiredthrough reflection from a plurality of mirrors, to thereby perform faceauthentication of the person to be authenticated.

Meanwhile, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A)No. 2000-250116, there is disclosed a technology involving laterallyinverting image data on a person image (image data on a person imagecontaining a person laterally inverted by a reflection mirror), which isgenerated by an image pickup camera, with an image inversion processor,to thereby convert the image into an original image.

However, the above-mentioned technologies disclosed in JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) Nos. 2014-106816,2007-011456, 2006-099615, 2007-206834, and 2000-250116 have thefollowing problems.

In the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent ApplicationPublication (JP-A) No. 2014-106816, the reflected front image and thereflected side image as well as the real front image are registered withthe database for face authentication, and hence three face images arerequired to be registered for each person to be authenticated. Thisincreases the storage capacity of the database threefold. In addition,in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No.2014-106816, there is no definition of a method of detecting a mirror,and image correction suited to an angle and distortion of the mirror isnot performed. Moreover, in the technology disclosed in JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2014-106816, thereis a fear that, when a person to be authenticated does not stand still,the reflected front image and the reflected side image cannot bedistinguished from each other.

Also in the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication (JP-A) No. 2007-011456, the front image of theface of the person to be authenticated and the right and left sideimages thereof are registered with the storage as the registeredinformation, and hence the storage capacity of the database is increasedthreefold.

In the technologies disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent ApplicationPublication (JP-A) Nos. 2006-099615 and 2007-206834, there is a fearthat a person whose face image is similar to the laterally-inverted faceimage may be erroneously authenticated.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No.2000-250116, there is merely disclosed the technology involvinginverting again a picked-up image containing a person laterally invertedby the reflection mirror to convert the image into the original image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention is to provide a face authenticationdevice, a face authentication method, and a non-transitory computerreadable recording medium storing a face authentication program, whichare capable of solving the above-mentioned problems.

One example embodiment according to this invention is a faceauthentication device, which is configured to perform faceauthentication based on an input image picked up by an image pickupdevice, the input image including a mirror region reflected by a mirror.The face authentication device comprises: a database with which, foreach face of a person to be authenticated, only one real front image isto be registered as a reference face image; a mirror image processingcircuitry configured to detect the mirror region from the input imageand to subject a detected mirror region to lateral inversion processingto produce a processed image; a face detection processing circuitryconfigured to detect a face image from the processed image to generate adetected face image; and a face authentication processing circuitryconfigured to compare the detected face image with the reference faceimage, to thereby perform face authentication.

In addition, another example embodiment according to this invention is aface authentication method for performing face authentication based onan input image including a mirror region reflected by a mirror. The faceauthentication method comprising: registering, for each face of a personto be authenticated, only one real front image with a database as areference face image; subjecting the mirror region of the input image tolateral inversion processing to produce a processed image; detecting aface region from the processed image to generate a detected face image;and comparing the detected face image with the reference face image, tothereby perform face authentication.

Furthermore, another example embodiment according to this invention is anon-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a faceauthentication program for causing a computer to execute faceauthentication based on an input image including a mirror regionreflected by a mirror. The face authentication program causing thecomputer to execute: a registration procedure of registering, for eachface of a person to be authenticated, only one real front image with adatabase as a reference face image; a mirror image processing procedureof subjecting the mirror region of the input image to lateral inversionprocessing to produce a processed image; a face detection processingprocedure of detecting a face region from the processed image togenerate a detected face image; and a face authentication processingprocedure of comparing the detected face image with the reference faceimage, to thereby perform face authentication.

According to this invention, the face authentication can easily beperformed based on the input image including the mirror region reflectedby the mirror without increasing the storage capacity of the database.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are each an explanatory diagram of a cameraarrangement in face authentication;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a face authentication system including aface authentication device according to an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for illustrating an operation of the faceauthentication device illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a camera arrangement that uses amirror;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a camera arrangement that uses amirror and allows face authentication to be performed from a pluralityof directions;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an application example of a cameraarrangement that uses a mirror;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a face authentication system in oneembodiment of this invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a mirror region determination unit to beused in the face authentication system illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of face authentication to be performed in the faceauthentication system illustrated in FIG. 7 to which this invention isapplied;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of mirror region detection; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram for illustrating an example of an image forcorrection.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Related Art

In order to facilitate understanding of this invention, the related artwill be described first.

In order to achieve a high authentication accuracy in a faceauthentication technology, it is required to photograph a face from aposition as close to the front as possible. However, in particular, acamera for monitoring is installed in the vicinity of a ceiling in manycases, and hence it is difficult for the camera to capture the face fromthe front.

The authentication accuracy can be expected to be improved by setting anangle, distance, height, or the like of a camera with respect to anobject as recommended. However, when a camera is installed in, forexample, a narrow floor or passage, there is a case in which the angle,distance, height, or the like of a camera cannot be set as recommendeddepending on the environment in which the camera is installed and it isconsequently difficult to perform face authentication.

For example, such camera arrangements as illustrated in FIG. 1A and FIG.1B to be used in face authentication are considered. FIG. 1A is anaerial view, and FIG. 1B is a side view.

A case is considered in which, in monitoring performed in such a narrowfloor as illustrated in the aerial view of FIG. 1A, a camera 11 a isinstalled so as to be aligned with a flow line direction of a person.When a person to be photographed 12 is to be photographed from theposition of the camera 11 a, a distance between the camera 11 a and theperson to be photographed 12 (hereinafter referred to as “photographingdistance”) is not sufficient, and hence the person to be photographed 12cannot be photographed at a recommended angle of the camera 11 a withrespect to an object.

In other words, in order to achieve recommended settings for the camera11 a illustrated in the side view of FIG. 1B, a certain distance, forexample, the distance between a camera 11 b and the person to bephotographed 12, is required.

Now, an example embodiment of this invention will be described withreference to the drawings. It is to be understood that the technicalscope of this invention is not limited to the example embodiment, and isto be interpreted based on the description of the appended claims.

EXAMPLE EMBODIMENT

Next, the example embodiment of this invention will be described.

In order to increase the accuracy of the face authentication in such anarrow floor as illustrated in FIG. 1A, it is required to increase thephotographing distance. Thus, in this example embodiment, the followingmethod is adopted: a camera is arranged so as to face a mirror, and aperson to be photographed reflected by the mirror is photographed withthe camera, to thereby increase the photographing distance.

It is assumed in this example embodiment that a face authenticationsystem is for monitoring, and is thus also applicable to a case in whichfaces of a plurality of persons on a mirror are detected.

When a real image and a reflected image are acquired at the same time,in this example embodiment, a mirror region is automatically detected todetermine whether or not a face image is required to be subjected tocorrection and inversion processing. With this, images for which aplurality of angles are specified, such as a reflected front image and areflected side image, are not required, and hence it is only required toregister one front face image for each face of a person to bephotographed with a database for face authentication.

Next, features of the example embodiment of this invention will bedescribed.

In this example embodiment, through use of reflection by a mirror, it ispossible to increase a face authentication accuracy and also increase adegree of freedom of a position at which the camera is installed. Inparticular, a feature of this example embodiment resides in that a logicof determining whether or not face image inversion processing isrequired when a real image and a reflected image are acquired at thesame time is introduced.

Referring to FIG. 2, a description will be given of a faceauthentication system including a face authentication device accordingto the example embodiment of this invention.

The face authentication system comprises an image pickup device 100, aface authentication device 200, and a result output device 300.

The image pickup device 100 picks up an input image including a mirrorregion reflected by a mirror. The face authentication device 200receives the input image picked up by the image pickup device 100, andsupplies an authenticated result to the result output unit 300.

The face authentication device 200 includes a processing unit 210 and astorage unit 220.

The storage unit 220 comprises a storage device including, for example,a hard disk drive or a non-volatile memory. The storage unit 220 servesas a database with which, for each face of a person to be authenticated,only one real front image is to be registered as a reference face image.

The processing unit 210 comprises a mirror image processing unit 212, aface detection processing unit 214, and a face authentication processingunit 216.

The mirror image processing unit 212 detects the mirror region in theinput image, and subjects a detected mirror region to lateral inversionprocessing to produce a processed image.

The face detection processing unit 214 detects a face image from theprocessed image to generate a detected face image.

The face authentication processing unit 216 compares the detected faceimage with the reference face image stored in the storage unit 200, tothereby perform face authentication.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, a description will be given of an operationof the face authentication device 200 illustrated in FIG. 2.

First, in the face authentication device 200, for each face of a personto be authenticated, only one real front image is registered with thestorage unit 220 in advance as a reference face image (Step S101).

Next, the mirror image processing unit 212 detects the mirror region inthe input image picked up by the image pickup device 100, and subjectsthe detected mirror region to lateral inversion processing to producethe processed image (Step S102).

The face detection processing unit 214 detects a face image from theprocessed image to generate the detected face image (Step S103).

Then, the face authentication processor 216 compares the detected faceimage with the reference face image stored in the storage unit 200, tothereby perform face authentication (Step S104).

The face authentication device 200 configured as described aboveproduces the following effect.

Specifically, the effect of this example embodiment is as follows: theface authentication can easily be performed based on the input imageincluding the mirror region without increasing the storage capacity ofthe database. This is because the mirror region is subjected to thelateral inversion processing, which eliminates the necessity to registera face image subjected to lateral inversion with the database.

The respective components of the face authentication device 200 are onlyrequired to be implemented through use of a combination of hardware andsoftware. In a mode in which hardware and software are combined, a faceauthentication program is loaded onto a random access memory (RAM), anda control unit (central processing unit (CPU)) and other hardware arecaused to operate based on the face authentication program, to therebyimplement each component as corresponding means. Further, the faceauthentication program may be recorded in a recording medium fordistribution. The face authentication program recorded in the recordingmedium is read into a memory in a wired or wireless manner, or via therecording medium itself, to cause the control unit and the like tooperate. Examples of the recording medium include an optical disc, amagnetic disk, a semiconductor memory device, and a hard disk.

When the above-mentioned example embodiment is described in anotherexpression, the example embodiment can be implemented by causing acomputer, which is to be caused to operate as the face authenticationdevice 200, to operate as the mirror image processing unit 212, the facedetection processing unit 214, and the face authentication processingunit 216 based on the face authentication program loaded on the RAM.

First Example

Now, referring to the accompanying drawings, a first example of thisinvention will be described.

FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 are each a diagram for illustrating a cameraarrangement that uses a mirror.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for illustrating an example in which an image pickuprange of a camera 21 is limited to a mirror 23 so that the camera 21receives light reflected by the mirror 23 to photograph the person to bephotographed 22.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrating an example in which a wide rangeincluding a mirror 33 is photographed from a camera 31. In other words,FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for illustrating a camera arrangementthat uses the mirror 33 and allows face authentication to be performedfrom a plurality of directions.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for illustrating an example in which a triangularmirror 43 is used to allow a camera 41 to photograph persons to bephotographed 42 existing on both sides of the mirror 43. In other words,FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an application example of a cameraarrangement that uses the mirror 43.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram for illustrating a configuration of a faceauthentication system 500 in the first example of this invention. Theface authentication system 500 illustrated in FIG. 7 comprises an imagepickup device 501, a face authentication device 502, and a result outputdevice 512.

The face authentication device 502 is implemented by adding a mirrorimage processing module 504 to a general face authentication device.

To describe more specifically, the face authentication device 502includes an image input unit 503, the mirror image processing module504, a face detection processing unit 508, a facial feature pointdetection processing unit 509, a comparison processing unit 510, and afeature point database 511.

In the face authentication device 502, first, the image input unit 503receives, as an input image, an image picked up by the image pickupdevice 501. The mirror image processing module 504 reads the input imagereceived by the image input unit 503. After the input image is processedby the mirror image processing module 504, the face detection processingunit 508 cuts out a face image from the processed image. The facialfeature point detection processing unit 509 extracts a feature point ofthe cut-out face image. The comparison processing unit 510 compares theextracted feature point with a reference feature point registered withthe feature point database 511. The comparison processing unit 510 thenproduces a result of the face authentication to the result output device512.

The mirror image processing module 504 includes a mirror region decisionunit 505, a distortion correction unit 506, and an image inversionprocessing unit 507.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the mirror region decision unit 505 includesany one of a mirror frame detection unit 513 and a wavelength detectionunit 514. The mirror region decision unit 505 further includes a storageunit 515. The storage unit 515 stores settings for detection and themirror region.

Next, referring to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, a description will be given of anoperation of the face authentication system 500 illustrated in FIG. 7and FIG. 8. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of face authentication, and FIG. 10 isa flowchart of mirror region detection.

First, the image input unit 503 acquires from the image pickup device501 an image signal of an image (still image) or a moving image (StepS61). The mirror region decision unit 505 extracts a mirror region fromthe acquired image signal of the image (still image) or the moving image(Step S62).

Referring to FIG. 10, decision of a mirror region (detection of a mirrorregion) will be described. The mirror region decision (mirror regiondetection) in the mirror region decision unit 505 is performed by anyone of the mirror frame detection unit 513 and the wavelength detectionunit 514.

The mirror region decision unit 505 specifies in advance a detectionmethod to be used (Step S71).

When the mirror frame detection unit 513 is to be used, it is requiredto mount a frame to the mirror in advance.

It is assumed that the mirror region decision unit 505 determines inStep S71 that the mirror frame detection unit 513 is to be used. In thiscase, the mirror frame detection unit 513 reads from the storage unit515 a feature, for example, a color, of the mirror frame (Step S72) todetect the inside of the frame as a mirror region (Step S73). The mirrorframe detection unit 513 stores the detected mirror region into thestorage unit 515 (Step S74), and passes the region to the distortioncorrection unit 506.

When the wavelength detection unit 514 is to be used, a filter that doesnot reflect a specific wavelength, for example, an infrared cut film, isattached to the mirror, and a camera capable of capturing a specificwavelength, for example, a visible light-infrared camera, is used. Aportion in which the cut film is attached does not emit light having thespecific wavelength.

It is assumed that the mirror region decision unit 505 determines inStep S71 that the wavelength detection unit 514 is to be used. In thiscase, the wavelength detection unit 514 detects from the picked-up imagea portion from which light having the specific wavelength is not emitted(Step S75), and stores the detected portion into the storage unit 515 asa mirror region (Step S74). After that, the wavelength detection unit514 cuts out the mirror region from an input image picked up by avisible light camera, and passes the cut-out mirror region to thedistortion correction unit 506.

Referring back to FIG. 9, the mirror region decision unit 505 decideswhether or not a relevant region is the mirror region (Step S63).

When the mirror region decision unit 505 decides that the relevantregion is the mirror region (Yes in Step S63), the mirror imageprocessing module 504 determines whether or not correction of distortionor expansion is required to be performed on a region detected as themirror region (Step S64). When it is determined that correction isrequired (Yes in Step S64), the distortion correction unit 506 correctsthe mirror image (Step S65). Whether or not to perform correction isdetermined based on whether or not a distortion correction value is setin advance in the storage unit 515. Distortion correction is notperformed in normal cases, but is performed mainly when an angle of acamera with respect to a mirror is small or when a special mirror, forexample, a convex mirror, is used.

The distortion correction value is determined before the faceauthentication flow of FIG. 9. Next, the determination of the distortioncorrection value will be described.

Before the face authentication, such an image for correction asillustrated in FIG. 11 is enlarged, and is reflected by the entiremirror. The camera picks up the reflected image of the image forcorrection, and a processing device (not shown) compares the reflectedimage with the original image and performs reverse calculation, tothereby calculate a correction parameter representative of a deformationdifference from the original image. The processing device stores thecorrection parameter into the storage unit 515, and distorts an imagebased on the correction parameter when correcting distortion of theimage.

Referring back to FIG. 9, after the processing by the distortioncorrection unit 506, the image inversion processing unit 507 performslateral inversion processing (Step S66). After that, a combination ofthe face detection processing unit 508, the facial feature pointdetection processing unit 509, and the comparison processing unit 510performs face authentication processing on a region decided by themirror region decision unit 505 as a region other than the mirror and onthe region processed by the mirror image processing module 504 (StepS67). Finally, the comparison processing unit 510 produces a result ofthe authentication to the result output device 512.

Therefore, the combination of the face detection processing unit 508,the facial feature point detection processing unit 509, and thecomparison processing unit 510 serves as the face authenticationprocessing unit 216 (see FIG. 2) configured to perform faceauthentication processing.

Next, effects of the first example will be described.

In a case of normal face authentication, a camera is installed at theposition of the mirror 23 (FIG. 4), and hence an angular differencebetween the person to be photographed 22 and the camera in a verticaldirection is disadvantageously increased.

In contrast, in the first example, the distance between the camera 21and the mirror 23 is added to the distance between the person to bephotographed 22 and the mirror 23. As a result, the distance between thecamera 21 and the person to be photographed 22 (photographing distance)is increased, and hence it is possible to reduce the angular differencein the vertical direction.

Further, in the case of such an installation as illustrated in FIG. 5 inwhich the mirror is contained in the image picked up by the camera 31, anormal camera image is subjected to a normal face authenticationprocess, whereas an automatically detected mirror region is subjected tothe face authentication after being subjected to distortion correctionand lateral inversion processing. This consequently enables faceauthentication processing from a plurality of points to be performed ina manner close to the actual processing from a plurality of points, andhence a probability of capturing a front image of a face increases. Withthis, increase in detection rate is expected in face authentication formonitoring, for example, detection of a suspicious person. Further, amirror region is subjected to lateral inversion processing, whicheliminates the necessity to register a laterally-inverted face imagewith the feature point database 511 for face images. It is thereforepossible to reduce the storage capacity of the database.

Through installation of a special mirror such as the triangular mirror43 or a convex mirror as illustrated in FIG. 6, the camera 41 is allowedto pick up images in a plurality of directions. It is therefore possibleto implement face authentication for monitoring in a narrow floor orpassage in which the camera cannot be installed.

The respective components of the face authentication device 502 are onlyrequired to be implemented through use of a combination of hardware andsoftware. In a mode in which hardware and software are combined, a faceauthentication program is loaded onto a random access memory (RAM), anda control unit (central processing unit (CPU)) and other hardware arecaused to operate based on the face authentication program, to therebyimplement each component as corresponding means. Further, the faceauthentication program may be recorded in a recording medium fordistribution. The face authentication program recorded in the recordingmedium is read into a memory in a wired or wireless manner, or via therecording medium itself, to cause the control unit and the like tooperate. Examples of the recording medium include an optical disc, amagnetic disk, a semiconductor memory device, and a hard disk.

When the above-mentioned example is described in another expression, theexample can be implemented by causing a computer, which is to be causedto operate as the face authentication device 502, to operate as theimage input unit 503, the mirror image processing module 504, the facedetection processing unit 508, the facial feature point detectionprocessing unit 509, and the comparison processing unit 510 based on theface authentication program loaded on the RAM.

Next, other examples of this invention will be described.

In such a case as illustrated in FIG. 4, a filter configured to transmitonly a specific wavelength therethrough, for example, an infraredtransmission filter, may be attached to the mirror 23, and the camera 21configured to capture the specific wavelength may be used. With this,visible light is cut off, which inhibits the person to be photographed22 from recognizing the camera 21 reflected by the mirror 23. It istherefore possible to reduce a psychological stress on the person to bephotographed 22.

In the mirror region detection, a mirror may be subjected to surfacetreatment to be formed into, for example, a Chinese magic mirror, and aregion subjected to the surface treatment may be detected as a mirrorregion.

In the mirror region detection, a polarization filter may be attached toa mirror to polarize reflected light so that a region of polarized lightmay be detected as a mirror region.

The mirror region detection and distortion correction may be setmanually as well as automatically.

The mirror region detection and distortion correction may be setautomatically through use of machine learning.

In such a camera arrangement as illustrated in FIG. 5, when the distancebetween a real image and a mirror reflected image that are picked up bythe camera 31 is too large, a case in which one of the images is out offocus is conceivable. In this case, a function of adjusting focus may beadded to the mirror in order to adjust focus, or a camera capable ofadjusting focus after photographing, such as a light-field camera or alensless camera, may be used to acquire an image.

In the image picked up by the camera, only the mirror region may besubjected to face authentication.

In the above, the example embodiment and the examples of this inventionare described in detail with reference to the drawings. It is to benoted, however, that a person skilled in the art can employ othersimilar example embodiments and examples, and can perform change oraddition of modes as appropriate without departing from this invention.

The whole or part of the example embodiments and the examples describedabove can be described as, but not limited to, the followingsupplementary notes.

(Supplementary Note 1)

A face authentication device, which is configured to perform faceauthentication based on an input image picked up by an image pickupdevice, the input image including a mirror region reflected by a mirror,

the face authentication device comprising:

-   -   a database with which, for each face of a person to be        authenticated, only one real front image is to be registered as        a reference face image;    -   a mirror image processing circuitry configured to detect the        mirror region from the input image and to subject a detected        mirror region to lateral inversion processing to produce a        processed image;    -   a face detection processing circuitry configured to detect a        face image from the processed image to generate a detected face        image; and    -   a face authentication processing circuitry configured to compare        the detected face image with the reference face image, to        thereby perform face authentication.

(Supplementary Note 2)

The face authentication device according to Supplementary Note 1,wherein the mirror image processing circuitry includes a mirror regiondecision circuitry configured to decide the mirror region from the inputimage.

(Supplementary Note 3)

The face authentication device according to Supplementary Note 2,

wherein the mirror has a mirror frame mounted thereto in advance, and

wherein the mirror region decision circuitry includes:

-   -   a storage configured to store a feature of the mirror frame as a        stored feature; and    -   a mirror frame detection circuitry configured to detect the        mirror region from the input image based on the stored feature.

(Supplementary Note 4)

The face authentication device according to Supplementary Note 2,

wherein the mirror has attached thereto a cut film configured to avoidreflecting a specific wavelength, and

wherein the mirror region decision circuitry includes a wavelengthdetection circuitry configured to detect from the input image, as themirror region, a portion in which light having the specific wavelengthis inhibited from being reflected.

(Supplementary Note 5)

The face authentication device according to any one of SupplementaryNotes 1 to 4, wherein the mirror image processing circuitry furtherincludes a distortion correction circuitry configured to correctdistortion of the mirror region.

(Supplementary Note 6)

A face authentication method for performing face authentication based onan input image including a mirror region reflected by a mirror,

the face authentication method comprising:

-   -   registering, for each face of a person to be authenticated, only        one real front image with a database as a reference face image;    -   subjecting the mirror region of the input image to lateral        inversion processing to produce a processed image;    -   detecting a face region from the processed image to generate a        detected face image; and    -   comparing the detected face image with the reference face image,        to thereby perform face authentication.

(Supplementary Note 7)

The face authentication method according to Supplementary Note 6,wherein the subjecting the mirror region of the input image to lateralinversion processing includes deciding the mirror region from the inputimage.

(Supplementary Note 8)

The face authentication method according to Supplementary Note 7,

wherein the mirror has a mirror frame mounted thereto in advance, and

wherein the deciding includes:

-   -   storing a feature of the mirror frame in a storage as a stored        feature; and    -   detecting the mirror region from the input image based on the        stored feature.

(Supplementary Note 9)

The face authentication method according to Supplementary Note 7,

wherein the mirror has attached thereto a cut film configured to avoidreflecting a specific wavelength, and

wherein the deciding includes detecting from the input image, as themirror region, a portion in which light having the specific wavelengthis inhibited from being reflected.

(Supplementary Note 10)

The face authentication method according to any one of SupplementaryNotes 6 to 9, wherein the subjecting the mirror region of the inputimage to lateral inversion processing further includes correctingdistortion of the mirror region.

(Supplementary Note 11)

A non-transitory computer readable recoding medium storing a faceauthentication program for causing a computer to execute faceauthentication based on an input image including a mirror regionreflected by a mirror, the face authentication program causing thecomputer to execute:

a registration procedure of registering, for each face of a person to beauthenticated, only one real front image with a database as a referenceface image;

a mirror image processing procedure of subjecting the mirror region ofthe input image to lateral inversion processing to produce a processedimage;

a face detection processing procedure of detecting a face region fromthe processed image to generate a detected face image; and

a face authentication processing procedure of comparing the detectedface image with the reference face image, to thereby perform faceauthentication.

(Supplementary Note 12)

The non-transitory computer readable recording medium according toSupplementary Note 11, wherein the mirror image processing procedureincludes a mirror region decision procedure of causing the computer todecide the mirror region from the input image.

(Supplementary Note 13)

The non-transitory computer readable recording medium according toSupplementary Note 12,

in which the mirror has a mirror frame mounted thereto in advance, and

in which the mirror region determination procedure includes:

-   -   a procedure of causing the computer to store a feature of the        mirror frame in a storage; and    -   a mirror frame detection procedure of causing the computer to        detect the mirror region from the input image based on the        stored feature of the mirror frame.

(Supplementary Note 14)

The non-transitory computer readable recording medium according toSupplementary Note 12,

in which the mirror has attached thereto a cut film configured to avoidreflecting a specific wavelength, and

in which the mirror region determination procedure includes a wavelengthdetection procedure of causing the computer to detect from the inputimage a portion in which light having the specific wavelength isinhibited from being reflected as the mirror region.

(Supplementary Note 15)

The non-transitory computer readable recording medium according to anyone of Supplementary Notes 11 to 14, in which the mirror imageprocessing procedure further includes a distortion correction procedureof causing the computer to correct distortion of the mirror region.

What is claimed is:
 1. A face authentication device, which is configuredto perform face authentication based on an input image picked up by animage pickup device, the input image including a mirror region reflectedby a mirror, the face authentication device comprising: a database withwhich, for each face of a person to be authenticated, only one realfront image is to be registered as a reference face image; a mirrorimage processing circuitry configured to detect the mirror region fromthe input image and to subject a detected mirror region to lateralinversion processing to produce a processed image; a face detectionprocessing circuitry configured to detect a face image from theprocessed image to generate a detected face image; and a faceauthentication processing circuitry configured to compare the detectedface image with the reference face image, to thereby perform faceauthentication.
 2. The face authentication device according to claim 1,wherein the mirror image processing circuitry includes a mirror regiondecision circuitry configured to decide the mirror region from the inputimage.
 3. The face authentication device according to claim 2, whereinthe mirror has a mirror frame mounted thereto in advance, and whereinthe mirror region decision circuitry includes: a storage configured tostore a feature of the mirror frame as a stored feature; and a mirrorframe detection circuitry configured to detect the mirror region fromthe input image based on the stored feature.
 4. The face authenticationdevice according to claim 2, wherein the mirror has attached thereto acut film configured to avoid reflecting a specific wavelength, andwherein the mirror region decision circuitry includes a wavelengthdetection circuitry configured to detect from the input image, as themirror region, a portion in which light having the specific wavelengthis inhibited from being reflected.
 5. The face authentication deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the mirror image processing circuitryfurther includes a distortion correction circuitry configured to correctdistortion of the mirror region.
 6. A face authentication method forperforming face authentication based on an input image including amirror region reflected by a mirror, the face authentication methodcomprising: registering, for each face of a person to be authenticated,only one real front image with a database as a reference face image;subjecting the mirror region of the input image to lateral inversionprocessing to produce a processed image; detecting a face region fromthe processed image to generate a detected face image; and comparing thedetected face image with the reference face image, to thereby performface authentication.
 7. The face authentication method according toclaim 6, wherein the subjecting the mirror region of the input image tolateral inversion processing includes deciding the mirror region fromthe input image.
 8. The face authentication method according to claim 6,wherein the subjecting the mirror region of the input image to lateralinversion processing further includes correcting distortion of themirror region.
 9. A non-transitory computer readable recording mediumstoring a face authentication program for causing a computer to executeface authentication based on an input image including a mirror regionreflected by a mirror, the face authentication program causing thecomputer to execute: a registration procedure of registering, for eachface of a person to be authenticated, only one real front image with adatabase as a reference face image; a mirror image processing procedureof subjecting the mirror region of the input image to lateral inversionprocessing to produce a processed image; a face detection processingprocedure of detecting a face region from the processed image togenerate a detected face image; and a face authentication processingprocedure of comparing the detected face image with the reference faceimage, to thereby perform face authentication.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer readable recording medium according to claim 9, wherein themirror image processing procedure includes a mirror region decisionprocedure of causing the computer to decide the mirror region from theinput image.